International Journal of Humanities and Social Science Vol. 2 No. 9; May 2012 13 The Fishermen’s Beach: Cultural Heritage and Contested Identity in a Touristic Place Eliseu Carbonell Catalan Institute for Cultural Heritage Research Parc Científic i Tecnològic. Ed. Narcís Monturiol Emili Grahit, 91 17003 Girona Spain Abstract This paper analyzes the relationship between maritime heritage and identity in a coastal town of Catalonia (Spain) which was a fishermen’s town until tourism gradually became the main economic activity (1960-1980). In summer 2007 there were actions to recover the maritime heritage of the beach and, simultaneously, there was a popular movement against the construction of a seafront promenade. Both actions affect the main beach of the town known as The Fishermen’s Beach transformed by locals into cultural heritage. Analysis of ethnographical fieldwork data leads to the conclusion that the process of converting the beach into heritage emerges in a context of negotiation of identities by local actors, with the tourism industry as backdrop, and with a clear political dimension. Keywords: Maritime Heritage, Identity, Tourism, Beach, Landscape, Catalonia 1. Introduction: Coastal Tourism, Authenticity, Maritime Heritage and Landscape The economy of Spain depends, to a large extent, on tourism. Within this country, Catalonia is one of the main tourist destinations. It receives 15 million tourists a year, mostly in coastal areas. Catalonia is an autonomous region in northeastern Spain with 7.5 million inhabitants and more than 500 kilometers of coast. It has its own language, Catalan, and its own history and culture. During the medieval period Catalonia was an important naval power in the Mediterranean. It also played an important role in the commerce with America in modern times. With the loss of the Spanish colonies in the 19 th century, maritime activities declined, with the exception of activities associated with artisanal fishing, which remained very important for the Catalan coastal population economy throughout the 19 th and much of the 20 th centuries, until the present world fisheries crisis that is primarily affecting the artisanal fishing sector (Andreatta and Parlier 2010; Achenson 2011). Catalonia has an important seafaring past with a rich maritime heritage, which is little known even by the local population and has been only very slightly exploited by tourism industry until recently. Just in the last few years, local communities have begun to discover and recuperate their maritime heritage. Some volunteer associations were created along the coast to recover old vessels, buildings and traditions related to their seafaring past. This paper analyses the role played by one of these associations in a Catalan coastal town and its relation with other local actors who also claim the beach as part of their heritage and identity. All this happens in the context of an economy clearly oriented to coastal tourism, both domestic and foreign. But the relationship between tourism and heritage is evident, principally in the modality of tourism known as ―cultural tourism‖ (Stebbins 1996; Hugues 1996; Richards 2002). It is also easy to see the relationship between maritime heritage and coastal tourism. What Wang (1999) calls the search for the authenticity of the tourist experience coincides with the search for authenticity that seek many operations of maritime heritage recovery. This is the case discussed in this article by analyzing the recovery of maritime heritage on a Catalan beach. The relationship between tourism and heritage is not without points of contention. In the Mediterranean, has often been criticized that tourism development has dominated over the conservation of cultural heritage (Boissevain 2004). On the other hand, as stated by Santana (1998), the conversion or adaptation of cultural heritage to tourist uses often involves the perversion of the original values of that heritage. This is also of maritime heritage, a form of cultural heritage. ______________ This research is supported by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation, R+D program (HAR2010-15566).